Statler and Waldorf
Statler and Waldorf are a pair of Muppet characters. They are two disagreeable old men who first appeared in the television series The Muppet Show and heckled the rest of the cast from their balcony seats. They appeared in every episode of the show, except for one. In one episode, Waldorf appeared alone at the beginning, explaining that Statler was sick, and that Waldorf's wife would substitute. Her name turned out to be "Astoria" and she looked remarkably like Statler wearing a dress. In The Muppet Show, the two were always trashing Fozzie Bear's poor jokes, except for one occasion where Fozzie, with help from Bruce Forsyth, heckled them back. In contrast, they found themselves vastly entertaining and inevitably burst into mutual laughter at their own witticisms (though, they would, on several occasions, heckle each other, too). It is later revealed in the A Muppet Family Christmas special that the two hecklers were friends with Fozzie's mother, Emily Bear. Despite constantly complaining about the show and how terrible some acts were, they would always be back the following week in the best seats in the house. As to why, the original version of The Muppet Show theme song had Statler admitting, "I guess we'll never know." They also had a penchant for breaking the fourth wall. At the end of one episode, they looked at the camera and asked "Why do you watch it?", and in another one, Statler stated that he didn't care for puppets much, not finding them believable. Waldorf responded with "I don't believe you!" Statler and Waldorf are named after two New York City hotels, The Statler Hilton and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. In the 1996 series Muppets Tonight, based around a television show rather than a theatre, Statler and Waldorf were shown watching the show at an assisted living facility, but still making disparaging comments. Statler and Waldorf also appeared (as adults) in the Saturday morning animated television series Jim Henson's Muppet Babies Both characters were voiced by Dave Coulier. Unlike other adults who visit the nursery in that series, Statler and Waldorf's faces are shown. The two were more friendly and jovial, and only occasionally grumpy, compared to their appearances on The Muppet Show. A joke was made about the duo's nature in The Muppet Christmas Carol, where they played the ghosts of Jacob and Robert Marley. When Ebenezer Scrooge accuses them of always criticizing him, they reply "We were always heckling you." "It's good to be heckling again." "It's good to be doing anything again!" During multiple sequences there is a shop called "Statler and Waldorf". In a nod to their role on The Muppet Show, when Scrooge chalks their appearance up to indigestion: "There's more of gravy than the grave about you" to which they retort with "What a terrible pun!" and "Leave comedy to the bears, Ebenezer!" In one episode of The Muppet Show they started heckling the opening number before it even started. Kermit decided to cancel it when Waldorf (sarcastically) guessed what it was: a Chinese gorilla dancing ballet. They were then allowed to perform an opening number of their own. After performing it, they were suddenly sitting on their usual balcony. Waldorf then asked "Why can't they do numbers like that?" When Kermit remarked that they just did, the duo started to criticize it. In Muppet Treasure Island, they were the figureheads of The Hispaniola. Their role in the film was about as minimal as one would expect given this, except near the very end when they save Miss Piggy's life in a comic deus ex machina where she falls off a cliff, and they just happen to be underneath her. The duo are featured characters at both of Disney's Muppet*Vision 3D at Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney California Adventure Park as audio-animatronic Muppets helping Bean Bunny escape the theater and, of course, heckling the show. They also make a cameo appearance in Pixar's 2008 short film Presto, where they can be seen in their theater box. The Muppet Newsflash: A Jim Henson News Blog announced on September 17, 2009, that Statler and Waldorf will release a book titled From the Balcony in 2010. Statler and Waldorf appear in featured roles in The Muppets. They are first shown in Kermit's old office where they inform evil oil baron Tex Richman that the only thing that could stop his purchase of The Muppet Theater would be Kermit raising ten million dollars. They are later seen during the Muppet Telethon, back in their balcony seats, and still making disparaging comments, at one point telling Jack Black that they have been sitting in the balcony and heckling the show for 40 years. When the telethon fails to raise enough money and Tex Richman orders the Muppets out of the theater, Statler and Waldorf, too, are sad about this. However, when it is discovered that the fans don't care about Tex's laws and will get the Muppets back on top without the theater or their name, Statler and Waldorf are happy again, and are last shown at the top of a building dancing and singing during the finale.